In 21 texts, From the Things Themselves presents approaches relating architecture to phenomenology, and vice-versa. The philosophies of Husserl, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty are revisited and experienced through a large array of architectural realizations: from the virtual world of Second Life, the poetical and spiritual worlds of Greek temples, Cistercian or Baroque churches, Chinese and Japanese gardens, to the work of contemporary architects.